Despite these baffling features, and despite the small effect sizes, these results obtained by Gauquelin remain the best factual evidence for astrology that has emerged to date. As noted by Mather (1979) in a now-famous quote,

“Both those who are for and against astrology (in the broadest sense) as a serious field for study recognize the importance of Gauquelin’s work. It is probably not putting it too strongly to say that everything hangs on it.”

(‘Unity of all things’, Fritjof Capra)… The most important characteristic of the Eastern world view is the awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the world as manifestation of a basic oneness. All things are seen as interdependent and inseparable parts of this cosmic whole; as different manifestations of the same ultimate reality. The Eastern traditions constantly refer to this ultimate indivisible reality which manifests itself in all things, and of which all things are parts. It is called Brahman in Hinduism, Dharmakaya in Buddhism, Tao in Taoism. Because it transcends all concepts and categories, Buddhists also call it Tathata, or Suchness:

What is meant by the soul as suchness, is the oneness of the totality of all things, the great all-including whole.1

In ordinary life we are not aware of this unity of all things, but divide the world into separate objects and events. This division is, of course, useful and necessary to cope with our everyday environment, but it is not a fundamental feature of reality. it is an abstraction devised by our discriminating and categorizing intellect. To believe that our abstract concepts of separate ‘things’ and ‘events’ are realities of nature is an illusion. Hindus and Buddhists tell us that this illusion is based on avidya, or ignorance, produced by a mind under the spell of maya. The principal aim of the Eastern mystical traditions is therefore to readjust the mind by centering and quietening it through meditation. The Sanskrit term for meditation - samadhi - means literally ‘mental equilibrium’. It refers to the balanced and tranquil state fo mind in which the basic unity of the universe is experienced:

Entering into the samadhi of purity, [one obtains] all-penetrating insight that enables one to become conscious of the absolute oneness of the universe.2